Pintokona


Pintokona is a Japanese romance manga series written and illustrated by Ako Shimaki. It was serialized from the November 2009 issue to the November 2015 issue by Shogakukan in Cheese!. The manga books published 16 volumes by Shogakukan. It was adapted into a Japanese television drama series in 2013.

Synopsis

In the Kabuki world, where family is highly valued, Kyonosuke lacks ability despite being born the heir to a prestigious family. Kazuya was born into a family with no connection to kabuki, but he tries to rise from the bottom with only his abilities. The story begins when these two opposites fall in love with the same girl, Ayame. Kyonosuke, who wants to be liked by Ayame for his love of kabuki, cries in frustration, saying that he wants her ability more than the title of heir. Kazuya, who wants to play the leading role in front of Ayame, plans to be adopted by a prestigious family.

Characters

  • Kyōnosuke Kawamura - Protagonist and sergeant of the prestigious Kijimaya kabuki house.
  • Ichiya Sawayama - Disciple of the Kabuki house Todorokiya. Ayame was a classmate of his in primary school.
  • Ayame Chiba - Heroine of this story. Influenced by her mother, who died of illness, she loves Kabuki.

Reception

It won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga in 2011 and it was number eight on the 2012 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Female Readers survey.
Volume 7 reached the 29th place on the Japanese weekly manga chart and, as of 1 July 2012, has sold 35,767 copies. Volume 9 reached the 50th place and, as of 27 April 2013, has sold 24,319 copies. Volume 10 reached the 21st place and, as of 4 August 2013, has sold 67,825 copies. Volume 11 reached the 18th place and, as of 2 February 2014, has sold 62,372 copies. Volume 12 reached the 24th place, and, as of 6 July 2014, has sold 55,031 copies.

Bibliographic Information

  • Ako Shimaki Pintokona Shogakukan, 16 volumes
  • *volume 1 26 February 2010,
  • *Volume 2 26 August 2010,
  • *Volume 3 26 January 2011,
  • *Volume 4 26 May 2011,
  • *Volume 5 26 July 2011,
  • *Volume 6 26 December 2011,
  • *Volume 7 26 June 2012,
  • *Volume 8 26 November 2012,
  • *Volume 9 26 April 2013,
  • *Volume 10 26 July 2013,
  • *Volume 11 24 January 2014,
  • *Volume 12 26 June 2014,
  • *Volume 13 24 October 2014,
  • *Volume 14 26 February 2015,
  • *Volume 15 26 June 2015,
  • *Volume 16 26 November 2015,

Television Drama

It was adapted into a Television drama under the title Pintokona, which was broadcast in the TBS Television (Japan) Thursday Drama 9 slot from 18 July to 19 September 2013.
It starred Yuta Tamamori of Kis-My-Ft2. It was Tamamori's first starring role in a prime-time drama series. The heroine is Umika Kawashima. Yuma Nakayama and Jessie are also making their first appearances in a TBS Television (Japan) drama series. The drama also included acting and gesture coaching by current Kabuki actors.
The catchphrase is "Midsummer's heart-throb love from the handsome son of a distinguished family of the Kabuki world".

For Dramatization

Yuta Tamamori, the lead actor of the drama, explained the role of Kyonosuke, saying, "He is a no-good heir who is unmotivated about Kabuki and skips his training, but in fact he is a very pure and passionate man with a single-minded core." He also commented that this is the first drama series in history to use kabuki as its subject matter, "I am anxious and nervous, but I will do my best so as not to tarnish the 400-year history of kabuki," he declared emphatically. Nakayama, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about his rival Ichiya, saying, "Ichiya was not born into a prestigious family, but he loves Kabuki and works harder than anyone else.
When asked by a reporter about a story that made her heart flutter recently, Umika Kawashima shared an episode in which she made Tamamori eat wasabi chocolate as part of a TV show project. With a smile, Kawashima replied, "He ate the spicy wasabi chocolate right away, even though he doesn't like spicy food." Tamamori, on the other hand, smiled and replied, "I ate it because Umika said she made it herself," much to Kawashima's delight.

Main characters (TV drama)

;Kawamura Kyonosuke - Yuta Tamamori
;Ichiya Sawayama - Yuma Nakayama
;Chiba Ayame - Umika Kawashima
;Sakamoto, Haruhiko - Jesse )
;Chiaki Mishima - Mayu Kusakari
;Shohei Sawayama - Hokuto Matsumura -
;Yuna Sawayama - Aoi Yoshikura
;Sezaemon Kawamura - Goro Kishitani

Staff